Opinion: It is vital to lift the veil on the horrific living conditions in North Korea

by Boris Epshteyn, Chief Political Analyst

People watch a TV screen showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's New Year's speech, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. North Korea announced Wednesday that it will reopen a cross-border communication channel with South Korea, officials in Seoul said, another sign of easing animosity between the rivals after a year that saw the North conduct nuclear bomb and missile tests and both the Koreas and Washington issue threats of war. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Boris Epshteyn formerly served as a Senior Advisor to the Trump Campaign and served in the White House as Special Assistant to The President and Assistant Communications Director for Surrogate Operations.

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - In my last segment, I criticized NBC for its glowing coverage of North Korea. Today, I want to talk to you about the realities of life inside the communist country.

Last November, a North Korean soldier ran over the border to South Korea. The man was riddled by bullets shot at him by his fellow North Korean soldiers. Even more shocking - South Korean doctors discovered dozens of parasitic worms in the soldier's body. Some of the worms were as long as 11 inches in length.

Was this a case of medical curiosity? No. North Korea does not give its people access to chemical fertilizer. They are forced to use human waste to fertilize their crops. That results in horrible malnutrition and dysentery. According to the United Nations, at least 2 in 5 North Koreans are malnourished. Compare that to South Korea where less than 5 percent of the population doesn't have proper nourishment.

North Korean soldiers have a priority for food rations but are still starving. A recent report said that the soldiers are raiding homes of their fellow citizens for food. Seventy percent of North Koreans don’t have steady access to food at all.

The Kim Jong Un regime regularly throws its people into prison camps or makes them disappear altogether.

Here is the bottom line: the lives of North Korean citizens and soldiers are truly terrible. Kim Jong Un stays in power by boasting about military strength. It is vital to make clear that North Korea’s saber rattling will not be accepted. It is also key to publicly lift the veil on the horrific conditions of the North Korean people under communist rule.